“Don’t put money in any investment product you can’t explain to a seventh grader! Never put money in anything you don’t understand!”

Dave Ramsey practically screams this advice on the latest version of the Financial Peace University lesson on investing. There is no uncertainty in his words or his voice.

Critics of Dave Ramsey, and even quite a few of his fans over at My Total Money Makeover message boards, say Dave’s investing advice is either “too simplistic” or just wrong.

To people who are much more investment savvy, Dave’s investing advice probably does sound wrong or oversimplified. But for folks like me, who just don’t have much learning or background in investing, that is a start, as long as we follow his basic advice quoted above. Perhaps…

Welcome to the American dream – get into as much debt as possible. Oh yeah, that’s not the dream, just the reality of what happens. What was the dream again?

Whatever it was or is supposed to be, most people these days dream of being debt free. So get ready to dream while I share 7 ways to get debt free in 2019. See also this March update video on how to stay debt-free:

Education

To make good money you need a decent education. Do whatever you need to do to get at least a High school Diploma or equivalent it: a GED Diploma.

Getting the GED Diploma is a cost and time effective option. The price of the exam is $120 and you don’t attend the GED school before the exam. If you feel you can pass it, you can just sign up for the GED test, go to the exam place and get your Diploma within a week.

The GED diploma is the same as a Hig School diploma so you are good to go.

Stop Spending Money You Don’t Have

The logic behind this is indisputable. Yet aren’t we all guilty of spending money we don’t have or overspending on occasions and experiencing a little buyer’s remorse.

Loans and credit cards make it easy to buy that new car, television, boat or even a riding lawnmower with four-wheel drive that we don’t really need. Lesson number one: stop spending money you don’t have. Only use your credit cards for emergencies or spend what you have budgeted to pay them off each month.

I recently read an article in Politico titled something like “One last time, the Senate GOP is trying to repeal Obamacare”. I forgot the precise title but that what it came down to.

In the following article, Dr. Oz explains in a pretty good way all about the American Health system, though the video is already some two years old:

The main concern in the article was the fact that they (GOP) want to, “scale really back the role of the federal government in the system of our nation’s healthcare but rather provide the states with block”.

The whole purpose of the federal government getting involved in health care, in the first place, is the very fact that the states couldn’t manage the healthcare system.

There are enough issues to deal with after you die without being left a giant tax mess or a legal battle over your estate. But this often happens to widows and widowers whose spouses have died before cashing in their pensions.

In particular, dealing with a 401k settlement could be stressful and complicated for your spouse or would be beneficiaries upon your death if clear directives were not put in place.

If your spouse or beneficiaries find themselves in this situation then they will be forced to seek competent legal counsel to remedy this complex situation.

Obviously, this will require a substantial cost in attorney fees and will cut into the money they will end up receiving from your 401k account after your death.

Current tax law places a stiff penalty of 10% on Early Withdrawals From 401k retirement plans. Nevertheless, there are some special circumstances under which owners of 401k plans can withdraw or receive an early distribution from these funds without incurring any penalty at all.

These instances include buying a home for the first time, hardship cases, and using it to fund the expenses of getting a higher education.

The ideal situation is that these retirement plans are not touched until it is time to retire, but that is not always possible. Emergencies do occur, and at this time having a ready source of liquid funds to draw from can help get out of an otherwise disastrous time.

It was the Federal government that set in place pension plans like the 401k or IRA, and doing so has encouraged many families to start saving for the future.

Your financial future depends upon making solid decisions when it comes to your savings and your retirement strategies. However, most folks tend to make some common errors in this regard.

These mistakes are easily overlooked but can cost you a great deal in terms of loss of investment growth and or a loss of time.

One of the obvious areas mistakes are made have to do with how you use your 401k retirement plan. Your IRA/401K can be a very powerful vehicle to supercharging your retirement savings but only if used correctly. So let’s take a look at some mistakes to avoid while taking advantage of your 401k plan.

Planning for retirement is no easy task. As an employee in the United States taking advantage of Individual Retirement Account or IRA is a smart addition to your retirement strategy.

However, how do you know which IRA is right for you? Should you be taking advantage of a Traditional IRA or a Roth IRA? Let’s look at some of the main differences between the Traditional and Roth IRA below.

Tax Benefits

The traditional IRA allows for tax-deferred growth. Withdrawals are usually penalty free but are limited to certain items including college expenses, purchase of our first home (this does have a lifetime cap of $10,000) some major medical expenses and can even include some unemployment expenses that are long term.

The Roth IRA, on the other hand, offers tax-free growth. However, withdrawals are only tax-free providing that you are over the age of 59 ½ and your Roth IRA has met the 5-year aging requirement. So long as these 2 requirements have been met then withdrawals from the Roth IRA are free from federal taxes.